Who Dares Wins

A couple of years back, I had the opportunity to write for one of the most iconic British comic-book heroes every created - the square-jawed, stiff-upper-lipped Dan Dare, astronaut, pilot and all-around top chap... 

Here's a link to the blog post about that I wrote back in 2016, which covers a lot of the high points about Dan and his dramatic return to radio adventures.

This month, Dan Dare: The Audio Adventures has been picked up by BBC Radio 4 Extra for broadcast, and the series will be ongoing over the next few weeks - each episode will be broken into two parts, airing on Sunday evening and early Monday morning. 
 

My story - The Red Moon Mystery - is up on the BBC iPlayer's listen again service (free to use, but requires a sign-up).

Click Here for Part One; Part Two will be available Here from the weekend, or you can tune in live on Sunday 26th at 6:00pm BST or Midnight for the repeat.

If you're interesting in picking up the complete series on CD, visit Big Finish's website right Here for more details on the full saga!
 

What I Did In 2016

*phew*

I kept busy...

DAN DARE poster reveal!

Kicking off this week with a gratutious image post of this neat piece of art for Dan Dare: The Audio Adventures...

 

Great work here by Brian Williamson and Pete Hambling on this “movie poster” for “The Red Moon Mystery”, my episode of the forthcoming Dan Dare audio drama.

Coolest touch? I like how Dan is holding one a pistol modelled after the original Lone Star “Dan Dare Space Gun” toys from the 1950′s...

Visit Big Finish's website Here to pre-order a copy of Dan Dare: The Audio Adventures - Volume 1 or check out the trailer Here.

Dan Dare Returns!

When the Galaxy's Greatest Comic 2000AD arrived in the late 70's to rock my young pre-teen mind, one of the things that came with it was a revival of a classic British space hero - Dan Dare, star of the old Eagle comics that had been the equivalent entertainment for my dad's generation. The UK's Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon, Dare was a two-fisted interplanetary adventurer in the mould of an RAF fighter ace or jungle explorer - and while his 1970's incarnation was different to his original 1950's version, he remained the very model of True Brit, with a stiff upper lip, a line in cool banter a steady hand on the stick.

Dan's been reinvented a bunch of times, not just in comics but also in cartoons and for radio - and so when B7 Media decided to tackle the character for the 21st century, I was delighted to be asked to take part!
 

 

As announced this week, Dan Dare: The Audio Adventures will be released in a few months time by the folks over a Big Finish (with whom I've previously worked on Doctor Who, Stargate and Highlander audio dramas); two box sets are on the way, with volume one featuring my episode The Red Moon Mystery coming out in December and volume two due in February 2017.

Working from the original take on Dare, we've written stories that are inspired by the classic Eagle comics tales - here's the blurb for mine:

The Red Moon Mystery - Unable to return to Earth, Dan Dare and the crew of the Anastasia head to the desolate planet Mars, where Dan's estranged Uncle Ivor is part of a research team working on a top-secret archaeological dig; but when they find the base wrecked and the scientists missing, Dare, Digby and Professor Peabody soon discover that the Red Planet is not nearly as dead as everyone thought and that Ivor’s expedition has woken an army of deadly insect-creatures that threaten to swarm and engulf the Earth… Dare must stop the aliens, but can he really resort to genocide in order to save the human race?

Read the full press release from B7 Media Here or visit Big Finish's website to pre-order the box sets Here.